Lichtenberg Figures
by ScarredHope
Summary: In a world where Thalia survives that night up on Halfblood Hill what happens? A story exploring the possibilities of Thalia and Luke in another life. Will eventually turn into Thaluke but is unfortunately slow burn.
1. Prologue: That Night

They were always running and Luke was tired of it.

They kept running, the four of them. Grover, their guide, nervously scuttling in front; him and Annabeth dashing in the middle, both with one hand on their weapons, blond hair hanging low in their faces; Thalia, on at the end, her back to them, monstrous shield held high, defending them from an enemy endlessly on their tail. Each of them constantly looking back: Thalia to make sure they were alright and three of them to make sure the army wasn't right there. Also to check on Thalia, well Luke did at least. They were an odd group of too young and not old enough (especially to have faced the things they've seen, the horrors they ran from). They all wore days old clothing but you could barely tell with the heavy shadows from pregnant clouds that let no light through.

There was a quiet storm that raged around the group. He could smell it; Ozone that weighed too heavy in his mouth, too sharp in his nose. All of it's acridness caused by the fate of one girl. The world seemed to be holding its breath, waiting-warily waiting for the shoe to drop. The four were attempting a climb that on any other day would have been a nice hike, a serene break from the rest of the world. A nice grassy knoll. That night, the hill was insurmountable.

Luke's clothes were stiff and starched from sweat, irritating him lightly as he ran. He could only reminiscence on the days when this-now too small- hoodie was soft, the cloth embodiment of a warm hug after a bad day. Remembering home was always going to be bittersweet. There were the days when he came home to fresh-baked cookies and there were days when he came home to screams. The days when his own destiny simply tugged him down further, trying to drown him in some grim future. The one that his mother literally spilled from her mouth. The one that haunted his childhood in all ways possible. Luke always hated fate.

No matter what happens, no matter what he dreamed, tonight could not be her end. This destiny would _not_ be the end of her.

A small thud drew his attention off the looming future. They stopped. The three eldest held their breath.

"Thalia… my ankle… something's wrong," Annabeth's subdued young voice stated.

"Crap," Thalia said in an undertone. "Luke can you carry her?"

"Yeah but it'll slow me down."

A screech echoed through the valley, chorused by dozens of growls. The most untimely roll call to ever happen. (He _hated, hated,_ **hated** fate.)

"Go! I'll hold them off!" An order leapt from her mouth. Thalia had always been to good, to giving, but this order…

 _Damn it Thals._

"Luke, take Annabeth and Grover and _run!"_

"Thalia, I am not leaving you-"

"You. Don't. Have. A. Choice! Grover, the camp is just over the peak, right?"

"Thalia, I don't…"

Her scowl was almost as scary as the horrors on their tail.

"...Yes," his meek reply almost lost in the rising winds.

"Then go! You want to protect Annabeth don't you?" A low blow. "Then Luke Castellan you better get your ass up that hill."

"Thals," Annabeth asked in a quiet voice," you'll make it won't you"

Thalia bent down look her right in the eyes," Of course."

The little girl nodded, her blonde curls falling into her face.

Thalia sent Luke one last pleading look. _Take care of her._ She turned around leaving no room for more complaints.

Luke, ignoring everything in his head, mind heart, took Annabeth's small hand and started running. If he could do nothing else, then he would save this little girl. Their little girl. And then they ran.

Thalia looked down on the approaching army of monster. At the front leading the nightmare was the three Furies, leathery batwings outspread, fangs that would have given a dentist an aneurysm, glowing red eyes. Behind them like some sick parade were dozens of hell hounds. She took a deep breath and then hefted her spear.

"I'm not going down without a fight."

And then chaos ensued.

Each of the three Furies leapt at her from every angle. Thalia was barely able to lift her shield in time as she swatted the two monsters to her right.

"You can't win," the middle most one shrieked -Thalia assumed she was the leader as she was the ugliest. "Your fate is only the fault of your father."

Lightning flashed triggering a shower of rain to fall-too heavily- on their heads. Luke urged the others for word, each step closer to safety. There was a large figure standing at the bottom of the hill. It was large, and appeared more like a man on a horse. When they finally reached him (too much time later), all three were panting so hard that to Luke's own ears it drowned out the storm above. The figure silhouette was revealed to be a centaur with a grim look on his face.

"Chiron-I-we-uh-,"Grover stuttered breathlessly. "She wouldn't-"

"It's fine, my boy. There was only so much we could do."

Thunder shook throughout the entire valley echoing the very bomb that dropped inside Luke's brain.

"What do you mean?,"Annabeth questioned. Her small features held too much accusation. "Thalia's going to make it, right?"

She was too young for this, yet she had seen far too much of this world's cruelty. But even so, Luke couldn't stop himself from internally screaming the same thing. Why did that make it sound like that was it? They were still standing weren't they. They could fight. He would fight.

"I'm sorry to say it's in Fates' hands now. The River Styx demands atonement."

One of the stupid bats had ripped her shield from her, chucking it somewhere behind them. Thalia tried to summon another bolt of lightning. Instead of blasting the witch in the face, it landed somewhere in the mob of hell hounds, lighting up her surroundings (revealing the hopelessness). A mistake, not enough to be her last, but she couldn't do this forever. All the fighting tired her out and the lightning was an even bigger drain on her dwindling supply of energy-adrenaline lasted only so long. Luckily, even if not accurate, each blast was damn effective.

Fatigue settled over her.

A Fury jumped for her again, this time ripping through the bottom of her pant leg and her flesh. The pain was unbearable, like acid slowly ripping apart her flesh and it filled her mind with itself.

A scream spilled forth from her lips without her consent.

It was the scream that cemented his decision.

And without caring about his exhaustion or about anything, especially fate, Luke ran. Nevermind mind Grover failing to grab him or Chiron's warning shout. Annabeth's cry of his name lost in the wind behind him.

Adrenaline coursed through his blood-cursed godly blood, he had made what had felt like lifetimes in only seconds.

(But at times like this seconds are their own small lifetimes, each one bringing ever more life, or ever more death.)

"THALIA!" A distraction. A little more treasured time.

Luke took out his sword and swung it with everything she was worth (everything he had) at the demons hounds. The weight of his world in each swing, he appeared as only a bronze arc destruction in the ever so darkening night. A hero in the gloom. Within a few moments all of the remaining hell hounds had been decimated.

Meanwhile, Thalia had managed to somehow kill one of the Furies while writhing in pain on the ground. She was always the strong one. Unfortunately, the other two had gotten another swipe at her: There was now blood spilling from her arm as well. There seemed to be too much of the sanguine liquid. He had to save her.

"Hey bat bitch!" It was a stupid insult he knew but anything to distract them. Luckily enough both Furies responded.

"This is not your place," they hissed as one. "This is the girl's fate. She must die."

Thalia looked at him then, her mind getting sluggish. (How much longer could she last?) and shook her head. _Why_ her eyes screamed.

It was the most dangerous moment for their eyes to meet. And yet, like the sun's gravitational pull on the earth, his eyes were drawn to hers. And he was frozen.

And then their fragile bubble of a world popped with her shout:

"Get my shield!"

The Furies turned back to her. He began his frenzied scramble of looking for a shield in half-light. He raced to place where he supposed it went. There could be no helping these moments where he helplessly wandered a dull thud when his foot hit the bronze disc. A desperate grab for it and then he ran afresh.

In the meanwhile, Thalia had summoned another bolt of lightning and pressing her wasted body to the extremes. The devils went to take another shot at her. Speeding faster than light, the Furies dove right at her.

Luke tore forward and lunged. She had to make it.

A shriek.

And then…


	2. Ignorance is Bliss

_Clang_! The sharp sounds of metal colliding with metal filled the early morning air. The sound echoed through the empty expanse, resonating from two figures backlit by the rising sun. they were both dressed in light armor- just simple arm and leg guards-and were giving each other a hell of a fight. The shorter one held a spear in a tight grasp, while the taller grasped a long sword, both weapons shared a similar bronze hue. The two circled each other, the lonely arena as their secluded battleground, looking for another opening.

Suddenly, the swordsman took his chance and lunged, rushing at the other. Just as fast the spear was blocking with another _clash._ The two weapons and their wielders were then locked in a fierce battle, sweat dripping down both of their faces. With a sweeping motion the shorter brought her spear away to smack at the other's head. He turned again to thrust at her, only to be met with a block in a sprightly whirl from his opponent. Loud laughter then joined the clashes, a bright noise compared to the harsh clatter of battle.

"Yield Luke. You can never beat me!" she said with an impish grin. A overdramatic brandish of her sword to furthered the cockiness.

"Keep telling yourself that Sparky," Luke replied. "And Thalia," he swung at her then, "-you might want to keep your guard up."

Thalia didn't even bother blocking that move. Instead, she just dropped down and swiped at his legs, causing him to plunge to the ground. He lay on his back staring at the golden sky as Thalia confidently returned to her feet.

"Nice try, Castellan." She held out her hand prompting his gaze to shift to her sweaty form. Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her down on top of himself causing both of them to laugh. Thalia rolled her eyes. "You're a dork."

Luke's grinning face turned devilish. The few rays of light bouncing off his hair and face setting him in gold. Then with a twist of his arm, he was on top of her. This of course started an impromptu wrestling match. A constant flurry of flipping movements and wild, waving arms soon commenced. The world was soon full of bright, bubbly laughter, Thalia's laughter. A giggle which caused light even in the long shadows of the dawn. Even in the darkest reaches of his mind.

Eventually, their scuffle stilled and they settled against each other to watch the camp wake up. Thalia yawned and nuzzled deeper into his side," Remind me why we get up at the ass crack of dawn?"

"Do you remember the last time we sparred at a sane hour? The entire camp came to watch?"

"Don't remind me!" She groaned. "All the Aphrodite campers were looking at us like zoo animals. What even goes through their heads I have no idea."

The entirety of Cabin 10 had taken to "shipping" them together in a relationship, they had dubbed "Thaluke". It wouldn't have been so bad if that didn't entail to every exchange between them being met with loud squeals. Thalia would swear that during one of her and Luke's public fights, one girl had even brought in a sign. She had tried threatening them, but that had just meant the entire commotion was done in not-so-quiet-whispers. Luke had been amused as to the whole affair, but scared that anything Thalia did would mean she didn't feel that way about him. All together it was an uncomfortable mess that the two would awkwardly laugh about. And so they did. The two laughed and relaxed until the conch horn finally blew.

Thalia, then, began to wiggle in his arms. "Come on. It's time to face the world."

Pouting, Luke tightened his grip around her, "I don't wanna."

"Stop acting like a baby. And don't you have a cabin to lead?"

"Oh shit!" He squawked as realization struck him. Suddenly Thalia was on the ground and Luke had bolted away. He turned and called back to her, "We still on for the archery?"

"You bet, oh wise leader of Cabin Eleven!"

He rolled his eyes at that comment and kept running. Luke had just recently become the head of Cabin 11-his predecessor going off to NYU that fall. So, though he was the most qualified person in camp to lead a cabin, he was still new to the duties. One of those duties was leading the cabin in a parade of seniority, which would have been hunky-dory for any other cabin. But for Cabin 11 it was more of a walk of shame. His lodgings was the one that took in all unclaimed campers. And that meant watching those campers go from hopeful to dejected and cynical as they moved up in line with no glowing symbols appearing above their heads. It was like all the gods couldn't careless about their children. It made Luke sick. He did have sympathy for the children of minor gods. Even if they were claimed, the kids would have no cabin to call their own.

Luke hated the fucking stupid system, gods ignoring their kids until they needed them for errands and not even making a safe place for all the gods' children. Hell, Hera got a cabin just as an honor and she would never have any children. It just made him so angry. And he knew he wasn't the only one. Thalia felt the same and clearly a good number of his cabin felt that way. Maybe they could-

No. Luke shook his head that was a little too crazy. He had a duty accomplish, however hated it was, and right now he would give it all his attention. Anyway, once he was in the mess hall, he could ignore the fact that half his butt was hanging off the bench by -attempting-to pantomime jokes to Thalia. They never failed to make her laugh. (So maybe that was a laughing at him, not with him type of laughter, but whatever.) And so the day went as the days had since that night.

A.N: Here is the first chapter, finally! It's a little shorter than I would like but this is a good place to cut off. i don't know when the next chapter will come out, but it will be a while. Hopefully, it will be longer. If anyone wants to beta pm me. And if you find any mistakes, there will be some, feel free to point them out.


End file.
